Appropriate classes for a pirate game

[Kunimatyu]

If you don't want powerful casters, don't allow the Artificer. An Artificer in the hands of an experienced player will mess up a pirate game almost as badly as a Druid(which is the optimal character by a long shot for a ship-based game, despite being somewhat contrary in flavor.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Swashbuckler (a little underpowered, but in a setting with lots of seafaring -- and thus lots of chances to fall in the water and drown -- don't underestimate the benefits of being lightly armoured.)

I concur. And it synergizes with the Duelist later on. Set the swashbuckler up with a rapier of defending and it's all good.

 

[ivocaliban]

AEG's Swashbuckling Adventures offers some great classes, prestige classes and feats for pirates and swashbucklers. Granted, the classes (and feats, for that matter) are for the most part overpowered and require adjustments for 3.5e, but it helped form the basis of my recent swashbuckler campaign.

Classes (20 levels) that might prove useful include:

Musketeer - Elegant duelists in service to the crown
Noble - Charismatic aristocrats
Pirate - Arrrr! (Speaks for itself. Way too powerful, though.)
Spy - Specialized rogue
Swashbuckler - Before Complete Warrior there was Swashbuckling Adventures
Wanderer - Expert for PCs, with a gift for self-preservation

Prestige Classes (5 levels, unless otherwise noted):

Boarding Marine (10 levels) - Never board a ship without 'em
Buccaneer (10 levels) - Pirate brotherhood with benefits for fighting together
Captain - Tactics oriented and...fairly useless.
Daring Fool (10 levels) - Risk-taking, daredeviling, swashbuckling roguish types
Entertainment Officer - All a-bard! (sorry)
Field Surgeon - For those who can't afford magical healing
Helmsman - Good for an NPC who steers the ship
Man of Will (3 levels) - An unstoppable force of inner strength
Master Gunner - Deadly with a cannon
Midshipman - Jack-of-all-trades aboard ship
Naval Marine (10 levels) - Might as well be called Naval Gunslinger
Rogers Swordsman - Gifted sailor with fun pirate tricks and bonus feats
Ship's Chaplain (10 levels) - Cleric of the sea (now chunkier than ever!)
Topman (10 levels) - Specializes in working (as well as fighting in) the rigging


Just to name a few. Granted, most of these are created around the campaign world of Theah, which is included in the book as well. It's a relatively low-magic world based on 17th century Europe (flintlocks and cannons are common). Many of the prestige classes not listed above are focused on regional fighting styles, but can easily be adapted to any culture in one's own setting.

 

[Drowbane]

By way of disclaimer, I must say that I don't understand your motivations. You're nixing the Cleric, Sorc, and Wizard (etc), but you're allowing the Druid and Artificer? Are you F'n high?

~ My list ~

Bard (the only actual spellcaster I list... whoa)
Binder
Fighter
Incarnate
Ninja (all jokes aside, makes an awesome pirate )
Rogue
Swashbuckler (3-level class )
Swordsage
Totemist
Unfettered
Warblade
Warlock

 

[Umbran]

Are you ... high?

Hey, folks!

Perhaps this calls for a quick reminder that suggesting that those who disagree with you are somehow mentally impaired is rather less than cool. Please try to avoid it, as it tends to start arguments. Also, please remember that while it is better than outright cursing, if we can see what you mean, obfuscating it doesn't help much. If you know we wouldn't accept a word in it's full form, best to not try to sneak it in.

Thanks for the moment of your attention. We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.

 

[scourger]

I ran a short Pirate D&D game in the setting presented in Skull & Bones which wound up using just fighter & rogue. My restriction on magic was that there be no "flashy" magic. The player who played the spellcasters was okay with it but quit playing by circumstance. The remaining 2 players had no problem with their fighter/rogue characters. One was more fighter, and the other was more rogue.

If you wanted to really make it interesting, you could use the warrior & expert classes from Unearthed Arcana. With the feats that replicate core class abilities, it makes for really customizable characters. You could get close to it with the warrior & expert NPC classes from the DMG. In the same vein, I like the explorer class from Omega World d20.

Another conceit I've considered is ramdomizing the class choices from a narrow list. For example, for a Cletic game I would allow one each of barbarian, bard, druid, fighter & rogue. Each player would draw a card for character class which would also indicate social standing. I think it would be very interesting, especially if combined with the organic method of genreating character statistics to curtail "cherry picking" of stats.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Another conceit I've considered is ramdomizing the class choices from a narrow list. For example, for a Cletic game I would allow one each of barbarian, bard, druid, fighter & rogue. Each player would draw a card for character class which would also indicate social standing. I think it would be very interesting, especially if combined with the organic method of genreating character statistics to curtail "cherry picking" of stats.

Are you saying people would randomly be assigned a character class?

I'm not sure most players in most groups would go for that, especially long-term.

 

[Darklone]

Why does noone mentioned the monk? It's a great class for pirate games.

 

[hong]

Why does noone mentioned the monk? It's a great class for pirate games.

Oh yes, lots of flying monky goodness.

MONKISH goodness.

Monkish goodness.

 

[Darklone]

That has a certain apish feeling...